We're All A Family
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: Hard hitting, sobering news. That's what it felt like, hearing him say those words. (Co-written with werewolf-queen-022)
1. Standing Together

_**A/N: Thoughts and prayers are with Roman Reigns as he fights Leukemia. Kick its ass and come back stronger, Roman.**_

 _ **2/8/06, Amanda's perspective…**_

 _Somehow, I knew I had to be here… I knew something wasn't right._

 _We're all surrounding the ring as Matt is talking to us and the fans… and then his eyes lock with mine as tears fall._

" _Mandy, come on in here, kiddo." Matt whispered after lowering the microphone, Phil and Maria helping me up onto the ring apron and me getting into the ring… and Matt pulling me into his arms, me burying my head into his right shoulder and sobbing._

" _I don't… want to lose you…" I said in between sobs, Matt gently tilting my head up so I can look at him._

" _I know, sweetheart. I'm gonna beat this thing and I'm gonna come back stronger… because there's still a lot that I haven't accomplished. And I want to see you live out your dreams, Mandy…" Matt whispered, brushing my tears away and kissing me on my forehead. "And if you ever feel like you're in over your head, call me." He responded quietly before we all headed to the back._

 _Matt's right arm remained around me, physically holding me up… I want to be strong for him because he was strong for me when we all lost Eddie._

 _But I don't know if I can be strong._

" _Hey…" Matt whispered, gently turning me to him. "It's gonna be okay… they caught it in time and I'm gonna make it through this, kiddo." He responded quietly before we embraced each other again, neither of us wanting to let go._

 _But eventually, we do because I have to get ready for the next event and he has to go home and start the chemo._

 _I'll have to be strong… we'll all have to, he needs that strength._

 _At the hotel, I find it impossible to sleep… standing up, I pull my thick coat on and walk outside onto the balcony._

 _The snow falls around me, becoming heavier as I rest my hands on the freezing railing._

 _Why can't it just swallow me up with it?_

 _Too many are gone and we're gonna lose countless others… life truly isn't fair._

 _I opened my eyes again to see Ash, who's tucked me into the bed._

" _It's not fair… Capp just wanted to wrestle here, not have his career cut short." I whispered._

" _I know, kiddo." Ashley responded before she stretched out next to me._

" _What do we do now, Sis?" I asked._

" _We stay strong… we're all a family." Ashley replied before we hugged each other…_

 **Present time…**

Nearly 6 months along, Amanda Rose Balor rushed down the hallway as fast as she could… the text she had gotten from Roman sent a bad feeling through her.

' _No, no, not again!'_ Amanda thought as horrible memories flashed back to her of Roman being sick when he was 22.

When she got to the Shield locker room the brunette busted down the door and saw Braun, Hunter and Stephanie not too far away.

"What's the emergency?" she stopped short and saw all of the guys with tears in their eyes. "What's going on?" She asked.

Roman walked over… and Amanda knew, tears running down her face and Roman pulling her into his arms as she cried.

"I can beat it, kiddo." Roman said. "I beat it last time and I can do it again." He responded as they looked at each other and he brushed her tears away before he rested his right hand on her stomach and felt Liam's tiny feet hit against his hand. "For you and him."

"Just promise that you will make it out alive and not leave us, I lost so many people in my life and I don't want to lose you either." Amanda replied before they hugged again.

Roman nodded and kissed her forehead. "I promise. But now I just have to break the news to everyone."

"You want me to go out there with you?" Amanda asked.

Hunter sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder. "As their sister you hold your head up high: because you are the Shield."

Amanda nodded as she and Roman let go and she hugged Dean and Seth before Seth decided to guide her back to Finn.

When he did, Finn saw that Amanda had been crying and pulled her into his arms.

"Roman?" Finn responded once they were alone in the locker room, Amanda nodding.

"He's… he's been around me since I was 12 years old. Why is it that when things are going right that something terrible happens?" Amanda replied as Finn brushed her tears away.

At that moment, a knock sounded at the door… but it went unanswered and Ashley turned to Paul Heyman.

"I saw her walk in here with Finn, tears in her eyes… something hit her hard, Ash." Paul explained.

"And what you doing here exactly? You and your half ass client need just to fuck off for good." Ashley said as she folded her arms.

"Because Roman-" Paul started to respond before the door opened and they saw Amanda.

"It's back, Ash… Roman's sick again." Amanda replied, Ashley pulling her into a hug.

"It's okay and you-" Ashley said before letting Amanda go. "There is no way that Brock will get that title back. A half ass prick doesn't deserve another chance."

"And a guy who busted up his shoulder-" Paul started to respond before Amanda slapped him hard.

"I suggest you run before I beat your ass!" Amanda growled threateningly, Paul running off and Finn walking over and pulling Amanda into his arms as they embraced each other.

"I'll leave you two alone." Ashley said.

Ashley left and Finn closed the door before he and Amanda kissed.

"A family… that's what we all are." Amanda whispered.

Meanwhile Ashley found herself alone in the hallway before she felt she was safe to cry. She eyed a production crate before grabbing it and throwing it across the hallway.

"This just isn't fair, damn it!" Ashley screamed before she felt Seth's arms around her and let him hold her close to him. "How did you know where to find me?"

"Because I know you don't cry in front of anyone else." Seth said.

"Life is supposed to be finally going right…" Ashley responded as they look at each other.

"Roman's gonna beat this damn thing… he has never given up on anything." Seth whispered, Ashley brushing his tears away.

"He's our brother… we're all a family here." Ashley responded quietly.

"Yes we are." Seth replied.

A long night laid ahead for everyone.


	2. Emotions Override Us

Amanda, Dean, Seth and Ashley walked out there to hug Roman after his announcement and all five put their fists together.

Amanda saw something in Dean's eyes that rattled her, he was holding back something… and she confronted him in the backstage area.

"Please don't blindside us tonight, Jon." Amanda replied… but Dean just flashed her that goofy smile.

"Everything's fine, kiddo." Dean responded before he left… and Seth stopped near Amanda.

"Keep an eye on Dean… something ain't right." Amanda whispered, Seth lightly rubbing Amanda's growing belly and feeling Liam's tiny feet hit against his hand.

But Seth thought it was her emotional mindset overriding her judgment.

"Mandy, you're just not thinking straight." Seth responded.

"I've known him since his Jon Moxley days… keep your guard up because he gets damn scary!" Amanda replied quietly before she left.

And found Dakota, who saw the unnerved look in her eyes… and started to panic, thinking it was about the baby.

"Are you okay, are you in pain?! Want me to go get Finn?!" Dakota asked frantically, helping Amanda sit down.

"No, Liam's okay… kicking up a storm but okay. Kota… Dean just scared the living daylights out of me." Amanda explained.

"What did the son of a bitch do?!" Dakota asked.

"He looked at Seth like he was gonna hurt him… and my mind flashed back to when Dean was Moxley." Amanda replied, Dakota pulling her into a hug.

"I'm sure Dean wouldn't that be stupid to attack Seth right in front of Ashley." Dakota said.

"I've seen him hurt people before, he even once put a cop's head through a wall. Right in front of me… I was just 16 years old when he did it. When Moxley comes out, Dean disappears for a bit." Amanda explained, rubbing her belly when Liam kicked her hard in her ribcage.

"Little future wrestler?" Dakota asked.

"Yeah. I still can't believe how much has changed… just a few months ago, I was looking into fertility drugs… only to find out that this little miracle happened and without needing any boosters." Amanda responded.

"Dad picked me to be the future wrestler of our family. He always says from the first moment I kicked my mom, he knew I was the wrestler." Dakota said.

"I know you tried to mend things with her before she passed…" Amanda responded.

"For a while… I felt like we were a family again." Dakota replied.

Raw went on with the main event tense… and Amanda out at ringside but near Dr. Amann so he could keep a close eye on her as a physician.

The boys won… and Amanda felt happy and wanted to go hug them.

But then Dean grabbed Seth and attacked him and Amanda's happiness crashed.

"Ash!" Amanda called out, handing a steel chair to her and Ashley swinging at Dean as he threw the tag team titles at Seth as Finn reached the ringside area and guided Amanda away from there and held her close to him.

Ashley guided Seth to the backstage area and they reached Amanda and Finn's locker room.

"Should've listened to you…" Seth replied as he unclipped his Shield vest and pulled off his tank top to try to breathe.

"Wait you knew this would have happened?! Thanks for the heads up, not!" Ashley said.

"By the time I went to find you-" Amanda responded.

"I told her not to because I just thought she was running on emotion." Seth explained, Ashley calming down.

Amanda and Finn kissed and he followed her as she left, gently stopping her as he knew she wanted to strangle Dean.

"I know Dean would never hurt you or our son but it's not safe for you to be near him right now." Finn responded.

"Finn, he just went off the fucking deep end! He lied to me earlier!" Amanda replied in tears, Finn pulling her into his arms and rubbing his right hand up and down her back as they held each other before Amanda's phone chimed.

' _Taking Ash back to the hotel for the night, this whole thing with Roman being sick and Dean attacking me has made her feel quite sick to the stomach.'_ Seth texted.

' _We're gonna head back to the hotel too… and if I ever seen Dean again, I'm gonna fucking murder him! It was classless to do that tonight!'_ Amanda responded before she and Finn went back to their locker room and left with their things.

' _Ash said if you want to hitch a ride with you can.'_ Seth responded.

' _Okay.'_ Amanda responded before they reached the two and left.

Dakota answered her phone after seeing a video call, seeing that it was Sami.

"Did he hurt Mandy, did he lunge at her?! Is Liam okay?!" Sami asked frantically.

"They're okay… but that was completely classless of Dean to do, especially with Mandy and Ashley at ringside." Dakota replied. "By the way how did you get my new number? I had it changed after you wouldn't leave me the hell alone."

"I got worried so I called Mandy back in July… and after some consoling and slight bribery-" Sami replied.

"Late July, right?" Dakota responded.

"Yeah… she was devastated about Jerry's son. A lot of us were and still are." Sami replied.

"Brian was one hell of a person. A damn good friend." Dakota said.

At the hotel, Amanda had thrown her _No Good Dean Ambrose_ shirt in the trash can after getting ready for bed… and Finn noticed the rips and marks in it and knew she had taken a pair of scissors to it.

And then saw a text from Ashley.

' _She okay?'_

' _You know that shirt Dean gave her for Christmas last year? She just destroyed it with scissors!'_ Finn responded after helping Amanda lie down.

' _Damn that's pretty dark.'_ Ashley texted.

' _He lied right to her face when he said everything was fine… she's rightly upset.'_ Finn responded as he pulled the covers over Amanda and they kissed, his right hand resting on her stomach. "You rest up… you both need it." He whispered, knowing that from Liam's tiny feet hitting Amanda's ribcage that he was upset that his Mommy was upset.

Amanda and Finn kissed and she settled into sleep… and Finn texted _'Goodnight.'_ to Ashley before he put his phone on sleep mode, held Amanda and closed his eyes.

"The shirt with Dean's logo, Mandy took scissors to it?" Seth asked.

"Did she do that when The Shield split?" Ashley replied.

"She did… and burned her Shield gear. I broke her heart, Ash, she took the split worse than…" Seth responded, stopping himself and brushing tears away, Ashley holding him.

"Sshh everything will work out babe." Ashley said before the two slowly fell asleep.

They truly hoped so.


	3. Same Old Stuff, Just A Different Day

_**June 2nd 2014…**_

 _"There's always a plan b." Hunter said, two of the four Shield members moving towards the ropes, ready to fight Hunter and Randy… but Amanda barely had time to react._

 _Amanda screamed as the chair was slammed into her right side, four sickening cracks echoing from her ribcage as she fell and Seth drove the edge of the chair into her back before whacking Roman, who also fell._

 _Dean froze in horror, looking from his fallen Shield siblings to the two toned traitor. He charged at Seth but Seth whacked him repeatedly as Amanda leaned against the ropes._

 _"Colby, stop!" Amanda screamed, Seth throwing the chair at her and it hitting her arms before he picked it up and bashed it into her back, Roman picking himself up and charging at Seth._

 _Seth was down, Hunter and Randy trying to keep their best poker faces._

 _"Jon, get her out of here." Hunter whispered, calling Dean by his real name and Dean taking Amanda from there as Roman nodded in agreement._

 _Dean hung onto Amanda as she broke down in his arms, sobbing into his torso… she was told about the chair shots and scripted split of The Shield._

 _But Seth had been the first one who had rendered life saving aid to her back in March when she nearly died… and on that level, it hurt._

 _"I know, kiddo. Let it all out, don't keep it in…" Dean whispered as he lightly stroked her disheveled ponytail before they reached the trainers room._

 _Seth barely had time to react backstage after the four reached it before Hunter grabbed him by his throat, Seth struggling to breathe._

 _"What… the fuck-" Seth struggled to say, Hunter punching him right in his nose._

 _"Here is the fuck, Colby Daniel Lopez! I told you to only hit her twice! Not bust her knee so badly that she couldn't stand or crack her ribs so that they nearly shattered to pieces! Mandy is as much a daughter to me and Stephanie as Aurora, Murphy and Vaughn are!" Hunter yelled, letting Seth go. "You better hope and pray that Mandy forgives you! If she forgives you!" He growled, storming off with Stephanie and Randy._

 _As they figured, four ribs were cracked and two were broken. Amanda had no head injury though._

 _But the worst part was how fast her back had bruised… to Hunter, it was horribly reminiscent of Shawn's back injury._

 _He really hoped it wasn't that… and to his relief, it wasn't torn muscles or ligaments._

 _But Hunter's and the others relief was short lived… Amanda's shoulder blades were fractured badly._

 _Amanda had stopped screaming and crying, worn out completely from it as Dean held her in his arms… and Hunter and Stephanie started calling the others._

 _It was only the start of the vicious cycle…_

 **Present time,** _ **October 23rd 2018…**_

When Seth woke up the next morning, he turned his head towards Ashley and seen that she was already awake and on her phone... Seth rolled over and wrapped his arms around her waist, Ashley setting her phone aside and snuggling into him.

"Good morning." Ashley responded.

"Happy birthday beautiful." Seth said before kissing her neck.

"Thanks but I'm not really feeling it this year." Ashley replied before sighing.

"I know and I can understand why." Seth said before Ashley rested her head into his bare chest. "I was gonna doing something bold today but now I'm thinking of not doing it."

"Come on babe what was it?" Ashley asked.

"I… I was gonna take you a really nice restaurant and then ask you to marry me." Seth confessed, Ashley's eyes widened a little before she kissed him.

"Mmm I say yes, with all this that's going on... we could use something good happening." Ashley said before they kissed.

"Hang on a second." Seth responded before climbing out of the bed and walked over to his suitcase and returned a minute later with a rose and white gold, pink sapphire and diamond ring.

"Oh Seth it's so beautiful." Ashley replied before Seth slipped it on her ring finger.

Dean had woken up in a room by himself… Renee had thrown him out after slapping him, calling his actions from the night before classless.

When he was ready for the day and in the lobby, he saw Ashley with the ring on her finger and walked over, pulling Seth aside.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Dean hissed.

"And you're sane by jumping me and terrifying Ash and Mandy?! Mandy could've gone into premature labor last night, Dean, it would've been your fault! Do you even care about her or your godson?!" Seth responded.

"But how could you propose to Ash so soon after finding out about Roman?!" Dean growled.

"Because he would have wanted me to! I've spent the last week talking to him about how I was planning to do it!" Seth explained.

"And I get left out of the loop?" Dean replied.

"You left us out of you turning heel. Fucking lied right to Mandy's face about it when she asked you not to blindside us. She's pregnant, Dean, she's a hell of a lot more emotional than she was the first time The Shield split." Seth responded. "And the reason why I left you out was because I knew you would tell either Mandy or Ash's brothers." He said.

"Tell me what, that life moves on and they have the right to get married? Because they do and I have no problem with it."

Dean turned around to see Amanda in a leather jacket, maternity grey and white striped side tie tank top and maternity black skinny jeans… she was also in black cold weather boots which were a few sizes bigger than her normal shoes to accommodate her swollen feet.

"Of course you show up ready to rip me a new one verbally instead of going home and taking care of that baby you got growing in you because your husband didn't use a damn condom and you couldn't stay off your back." Dean replied bitterly… before the sickening crack echoed and everyone's eyes widened in shock.

"I'll go on leave when I'm damn well ready to! You don't talk about mine and Finn's growing family like that! But your actions on the other hand, Dean, were classless while Roman's fighting for his life! I hope he rips your spine out when he comes back and I hope Renee divorces you, you bitter ass son of a bitch!" Amanda responded angrily after punching Dean, who had stumbled back a few feet and held his right hand to his nose as Finn gently pulled his wife back.

Dean walked away and Finn and Seth got Amanda to sit down as Ashley walked over with an ice pack and put it on Amanda's right hand… and Liv walked over with a cherry flavored Jolly Rancher and proudly handed it to Amanda, who accepted it.

"That's for hitting the loony fuck, Mama Bear." Liv responded as Amanda put the Jolly Rancher in her mouth after unwrapping it.

Dean was leaning against the wall, watching Finn holding Amanda in a loving embrace… and it pissed him off.

' _There was a time she turned to me for love… not like the kind you give her but still…'_ Dean thought.

With everything falling apart, he thought he'd have Amanda to hold onto.


End file.
